Biography

Theodore W. Laetsch, MD is a faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. He also leads the Experimental Therapeutics Program (ETP) in the Gill Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Health in Dallas, TX. Dr. Laetsch received a BS in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering from the University of Arizona and then a MD from the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Laetsch completed his residency at the University of Colorado/Children’s Hospital Colorado, where he also served as chief resident. He completed his fellowship training and an instructorship at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he conducted translational laboratory research focused on mechanisms to restore apoptotic signaling in neuroblastoma in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Hogarty. In 2013, he joined the faculty at UT Southwestern. Dr. Laetsch conducts both clinical and laboratory-based research testing potential novel therapeutics in high-risk pediatric solid tumors with a goal of “bridging the gap” between laboratory research and early phase clinical trials. In the laboratory, he has focused on signaling pathway inhibitors and novel drug delivery mechanisms in sarcomas, and the use of beta-lapachone in ATRTs. As the leader of the ETP program, Dr. Laetsch serves as the PI of several phase 1 and phase 2 studies of new agents for children with relapsed or refractory cancer and serves as the institutional TACL PI. Dr. Laetsch has a strong interest in the use of tumor molecular profiling to guide therapy. In addition to these research activities, Dr. Laetsch continues to see children with cancer in the clinic at Children’s Medical Center.